13/04/2017 Midlands Today

More than 17 million drivers are expected to take to the roads

over the Easter holiday weekend, with many of them passing

Figures show that Good Friday afternoon is the worst day

to travel, with drivers spending 25% longer in their car

Here's our travel correspondent, Peter Plisner.

This is what you will probably encounter at the

busiest times, but there are ways of avoiding the worst congestion

On busy days, people really see the value of this...

Finlay Clark runs the free traffic app, WAZE,

of the most accurate satnavs when it comes to traffic alerts.

All of the information we are getting is from

real drivers out on the roads, so everyone is crowdsourcing and

sharing their traffic data, so we can see all the traffic

and route you around it so that you avoid the traffic.

Satnavs will certainly come in handy, as

extra journeys over the bank holiday weekend put even more strains

It has been a mixed picture on the roads so

far today, but tomorrow, Good Friday, is expected to be

the busiest, as five million drivers head out on the

The busiest time will be between 10am and 2pm.

Saturday could be busy too, as shoppers mix with long-distance

Just as well that Highways England has lifted many roadworks.

We think, based on previous experience, it does make quite a big

and significant difference to people's movements.

But not for drivers on the M5, where long-running roadworks look set to

continue for now, and further up the motorway, next Tuesday sees

the start of a two-year renovation scheme on a viaduct.

We are trying to encourage people to consider using

other modes of transport, or if you have to use the car,

do you necessarily have to come up the M5?

Could you get around Birmingham using another route?

The best advice, both before and after

Easter, has to be, avoid travelling at the busiest times.

Well, our reporter, Ben Sidwell, is near the M5

So what's the traffic picture there tonight?

As you can see, it is running very nicely, which makes a change. These

roadworks have been here since January last year. The stretch from

Worcester up to junction five, about seven miles, will stay for the

Easter weekend. It is one of the only stretches of motorway in the

country that will have roadworks over the Easter weekend, 105 miles

of roadworks in the Midlands have had them taken away for this

weekend. The problem is, the hard shoulder is still out, 50 miles an

hour, a breakdown here and this could be one of the biggest

bottlenecks in the country this weekend. This work should be cleared

by about June, but the problems are further north up the M5. Between

junction two and junction one, those roadworks at the viaduct will last

for two years, and the speed limits ten to 30 miles an hour will begin

on cheese day, so it is a very short respite. Problems too on the trains

this weekend. No trains are running between Wolverhampton and Telford,

because of a bridge around Albrighton being replaced. It is

probably the best it be all weekend here just now on the M5.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust

are accused tonight of failing to properly investigate the deaths

Jack Burn and Sophiya Hotchkiss died shortly after birth,

but their families say their concerns were

The local coroner is now considering opening an inquest

Earlier, I spoke to the BBC's social affairs

correspondent, Michael Buchanan, who has been investigating this story,

and began by asking him how the families feel

Essentially, what they are saying is that the deaths

of their babies were never properly investigated,

or they were certainly not involved in any investigations.

Advice from the Royal College Of Obstetricians And Gynaecologists

say that families should be involved in these types

of investigations if the Trust, if the staff are going

to learn the maximum amount from each tragic incident.

Take the case of Steph Prowse, who went to the Royal

Shrewsbury Hospital in September 2014.

She was concerned, she was feeling unwell, she was concerned

She was left in a side room for 40 minutes.

By the time staff came to check on her, they

realised that her daughter had a weak heartbeat, and though her

daughter,Sophiya, was born, she died just hours later.

If they had got her out before, I truly believe it would have been a

I would not be sitting here talking to you,

because I would have a three-year-old running around.

It is not just that case, unfortunately.

She went to the Princes Royal Hospital

in Telford just six months later, in March of 2015.

labour, lasting 36 hours, with many delays and mistakes, and though

her son, Jack, was born, he too died within hours of his birth.

Since we realised this and investigated this, because we have

spoken to the coroner, who is now considering opening an inquest into

More research into it, and someone accountable for killing my boy.

That's the only words you can describe it,

What has been the Trust's reaction to this?

The Trust has said that they investigate all deaths, and they do

They acknowledge as well that they need

to improve their communication with families, probably

an indication that in these two particular cases, at least,

Gloucestershire Police have been strongly criticised

Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary says

it needs to improve its approach to crime prevention,

anti-social behaviour and protection for vulnerable people.

It also says it's deeply concerned the force lacks

the fundamental arrangements to tackle organised crime.

We do take a little bit of umbrage with the words "deeply concerning,"

because that is not the picture we have in the county, and the crime

figures do not reflect that either, so I think the message would be,

"We accept you might have some concerns,

"and as Commissioner, Martin has got concerns as well".

"Deeply concerning," I think that sends out

the wrong message to the public in Gloucestershire that we have a

huge problem in the county, when we don't.

A murderer who killed his former housemate in a "savage" street

attack in Wolverhampton has been jailed for at least 40 years.

Sivan Amin stabbed Mircea Cozmiuc only two years

after he was released from prison for shooting someone

Amin was found guilty of murder after a court heard how

he ambushed his victim while wearing a balaclava.

The Valley House charity celebrates its 40th birthday this week. This

report comes from our special report comes from our special

correspondent Peter Wilson. The BBC programme, Open Door,

in 1978, captured an The people of Stoke

Heath, Coventry, had taken on a house

loaned by the council. 84 Valley Road became more

than a hostel for the homeless, it Led by a dozen volunteers,

one of the stars was Sheila North. We do not solve it in 24

hours, or a week, or even But we are always there

to give that little This is the first time her

daughters, Bev and Sandra, She would listen to anything

they had to say, she would let them say their piece,

but she would also tell them where they had gone wrong,

she would tell them in her words, not any posh words

that they could not understand. The community was like a family,

and that is how it stayed. Your mum made a real

difference to people's lives? Just because she was normal,

as they would put it. Valley House became a huge success

story, a community coping with its own problems, finding

its own solutions. Today, the charity has a budget

of ?2 million, 70 staff helping 4,000 people

across Coventry. If I had any issues,

they would help me and advise me, and they would just be there,

and be a shoulder, if I needed one. Peter Wilson, Midlands Today,

Stoke Heath, Coventry. I'll leave you now with the holiday

forecast from Rebecca. True bank holidays this weekend,

neither are looking sparkling, but some scope for change. That's

back-to-back holidays. Claudius skies out there for a time, but as

we had through the weekend, we will BC and more of this. -- we will be

seeing more of this. A north-westerly breeze, and there

could be some rain tomorrow. A slightly milder night tonight than

we have seen of late, temperatures between 5 degrees and 7 degrees. A

cloudy start to the data model high pressure still sitting south of the

country. It will keep these weather systems at bay for a time, but they

will start to make some inroads, and once they do, how wind direction

changes to north-westerly. A cloudy start, limited breaks, then some

drizzle pushing its way across us, temperatures tomorrow just 12 or 13

Celsius. Saturday looks better, and more information in the National

forecast coming up. spot of light rain from that cloud.

We will keep you updated. Now with the National Outlook, Tomasz

Schafernaker. Good evening. It's not exactly

cracking whether this Easter. I think the main message is there's

going to be a lot of dry weather, just a little bit of rain from time

to time. Not so bad overall across most of the UK,